Cerebral blood flow differences between long-term meditators and non-meditators.
Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy Wintering, Mark R. Waldman, Daniel Amen, Dharma S Khalsa, Abass Alavi
Consciousness and Cognition December 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2010.05.003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 26 |
| Population | 12 advanced long-term meditators and 14 non-meditators |
| Measures | cerebral blood flow (CBF) SPECT imaging, region of interest analysis, statistical parametric mapping |
| Key findings | Long-term meditators had significantly higher resting cerebral blood flow than non-meditators in the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, thalamus, putamen, caudate, and midbrain, and showed greater thalamic asymmetry. The authors suggest these regions relate to attention, emotion, and autonomic function. |
Abstract
We have studied a number of long-term meditators in previous studies. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in baseline brain function of experienced meditators compared to non-meditators. All subjects were recruited as part of an ongoing study of different meditation practices. We evaluated 12 advanced meditators and 14 non-meditators with cerebral blood flow (CBF) SPECT imaging at rest. Images were analyzed with both region of interest and statistical parametric mapping. The CBF of long-term meditators was significantly higher (p<.05) compared to non-meditators in the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, thalamus, putamen, caudate, and midbrain. There was also a significant difference in the thalamic laterality with long-term meditators having greater asymmetry. The observed changes associated with long-term meditation appear in structures that underlie the attention network and also those that relate to emotion and autonomic function.
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- Toward a unifying taxonomy and definition for meditation Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- The Neural Mechanisms of Meditative Practices: Novel Approaches for Healthy Aging Current behavioral neuroscience reports October 18, 2016
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Cites 19
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
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